Julie Sabatier Tells The Story of Creativity with Destination DIY

Julie Sabatier is in the business of telling stories.With her independent radio show and podcasts, Destination DIY, she and her team tell the stories of creative people doing interesting things. Per Julie, the show aims to be both
entertaining and inspirational.

Sharing Creativity

Why is Julie telling these stories? Julie wants to dig in behind the surface of the story and really discover the creativity that drives it. Julies says that the questions she tries to get answers to are:

Why are they doing what they’re doing?

What happened along the way?

What went wrong?

Who inspired them?

What surprised them or changed their outlook?

Julie is clear to point out that Destination DIY is not a “how to” show. Many people tune in, thinking they will learn how to do something, but the show is not an instructional tutorial. Julie hopes “that people will be inspired by what they hear to take matters into their own hands, whether that means fixing their car or making a meal or building their own space craft.”

Telling Stories is Her Passion

Julie loves producing a show that her audience really connects with. It thrills her when someone tells her they made something while listening to the show. She has a friend who makes soap while listening, and many artists tell here they like to listen in their studios. “That makes [Julie] really happy.”

Unfortunately, the show could use more funding. Because Julie and her producer/events coordinator, Jaymee Cuti, are in essence volunteers, they need to keep other jobs. It is a challenge to balance the commitment to the show they are passionate about with the rest of their lives.

In the Beginning

Julie started Destination DIY while volunteering as a programmer at KBOO Community Radio. Julie loves that place and “can’t say enough good things about KBOO and community radio in general. It’s a great place to learn and to experiment with the craft of audio storytelling.” Julie took the show over to OPB about 4 years ago. At that point, the audience grew, and they started to purchase stories from other producers around the country to expand the show’s reach.

Keeping it Going

Destination DIY is currently raising money so they can produce new, monthly episodes in 2014. Check out the campaign at IndieGoGo. Julie is optimistic. She hopes “this fundraising campaign [they’re] doing right now on IndieGoGo will help [them] take it to the next level and not only create new episodes, but also create a really professional website and hire an editor to give [them] critical feedback on the work during the production process.” Hopefully, they will be able to enhance the listener’s experience, which is what Julie cares most about.

Julie’s Story

Like many of us who live in Portland, Julie is a transplant. Originally from Baltimore, she moved to Portland 10 years ago after graduating from college. She loves the “collaborative spirit” here. One key reason she continues to make Destination DIY is the help from other people who have jumped in to add their skills and talents to the project. Julie believes “[i]t’s really magical to live in a place where people are so creative and so willing to share their creativity.”

When not working, Julie works out at a boxing gym, but she doesn’t really fight people. She says she just likes punching stuff and gets a great work out! She works out at Sweet Science Boxing in Kenton.

Experience the Destination DIY:

You can learn more about the show at its website: Also, feel free to check out the podcast from their latest show:

It is a prototype for the new format for the +Destination DIY. If you like what you hear, please contribute
to their fundraising campaign here.